State of the art hospital operating rooms now contain a wide variety of audio, visual and technology tools, such as video cameras, video recorders, microphones and voice recorders, video guided ultrasound imaging systems, lasers, cytoscanners, etc. With delicate surgery for example, a video camera may be placed in or above the surgical area of the patient. The image from the camera is then transmitted to a large display, such as a flat panel, allowing the operating doctor and medical staff to see an enlarged visual of the surgical area. The enlarged image makes it easier for the doctor to perform the surgery compared to relying on the naked eye.
U.S. application Ser. No. 11/093,075, entitled “ARTICULATED BOOM FOR SUPPORTING VIDEO AND MEDICAL EQUIPMENT IN HOSPITAL OPERATING ROOMS”, incorporated herein for all purposes, and assigned to the same assignee of the present application, describes a medical boom used for suspending video and other equipment in a hospital operating room. The medical boom disclosed in the above-mentioned application features articulated arms attached to a structural equipment cabinet that is mounted to the floor or wall of the operating room. Electronic equipment is installed or mounted directly in the cabinet at the factory prior to shipment to customer facility such as a hospital operating room. While the aforementioned medical boom does dramatically lower installation time and cost compared to previously known approaches in the prior art, the requirement of installing electronic equipment in the structural cabinet of the medical boom in the factory, as opposed to on site, is less than ideal. Due to size and weight of the cabinet, the medical boom is typically transported by truck. The cabinet and pre-installed equipment are therefore subject to vibration, shock and adverse temperatures and humidity conditions during transit, all of which could potentially damage the electronic equipment. Alternatively, if the electronic equipment is shipped separately, it has to be installed and configured on site, requiring a team of technicians to travel to the customer facility, adding to the time and expense of the installation.
A medical boom with articulated arms and a base cabinet designed to accommodate modular equipment and utility racks that include video processing, computer, and electronic, and other utility equipment that can be easy inserted and removed from the base cabinet is therefore needed.